


Cotton's Future

by Fabrisse



Category: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV
Genre: F/M, Het, Married Couple, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:23:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5370134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after their marriage, Margaret and John take a trip to invest in new sources for raw cotton.  It turns into a belated honeymoon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cotton's Future

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grav_ity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grav_ity/gifts).



> Based on their attendance at the British Exhibition of 1851 and the time it would take to plan a wedding, even a small one, in those days, I see John and Margaret marrying in late 1852. I've placed this story in the autumn/winter of 1856-57 with the two of them gone from Milton for approximately five months.

Mrs. Thornton looked out over the mill yard, pleased to see the shift change going smoothly. Her daughter-in-law came to stand beside her.

Margaret said, "I know John feels safe leaving the mill in your hands while we're away."

"I don't understand it. You've been married nearly three years. It seems a bit late for a honeymoon." 

Margaret smiled. "If it were just for a honeymoon, John and I would go to the Isle of Wight for a fortnight, and probably be back in a week."

Mrs. Thornton gave a small smile of her own at that. "I have him bringing you back in five days, myself." She assessed Margaret. "You're not taking sickly like your mother are you? I know you'd had hopes of a child by now."

"The doctor says I'm fine. He told me the miscarriage was natural for a first pregnancy. Though I had prayed I'd give John a son by now, he says he trusts the women in his life more."

"I'm certain he does. John seems to forget that his dear sister Fanny has less sense than the geese in the courtyard."

Margaret said, "Well, geese are very intelligent for fowl."

That coaxed one of Mrs. Thornton's rare laughs. "I do worry though. Gone a month would be bad. Gone three is worse, and you may be six months away."

"We hope it will be less. And it's not just my health we need to think of."

"John has been somewhat peaky lately. But a mill without master…"

"Will have a very thrifty mistress. Mister Higgins can help with the daily practicalities and Mister Lennox can help with any legal challenges. I trust your bookkeeping more than any accountant's, and we both know John does, too."

She did her best not to look pleased at the compliment. "It's your conscience being too touchy that makes him leave at all."

"No, Mother, it's the politics. The American supply might be hurt if there's a war, and Margaret's seafaring cousin has sent us reports of all the unrest." John kissed his mother's cheeks and his wife's hands. "If we get our raw cotton from other sources now, then we won't have to scramble to keep the hands working if trouble comes. That it means we won't use slave grown goods is another type of blessing."

Mrs. Thornton nodded, knowing she couldn't win the argument. "It's only successful if the contracts have long terms."

"And we may need to invest in some of the land directly ourselves, Mother, but I think the time and money spent now could save the mill when trouble comes."

"Have you heard when the ship will leave, yet?" Margaret asked.

"That's what I was coming to tell you both. The company has told me we'll have passage on one of their merchanters leaving Liverpool. It expects to leave a week from Saturday. The stops in France and Lisbon won't do us much good, but we'll have time in Barcelona and in Cadiz to see your brother," his wife's wide smile warmed him, "before picking up the next ship which will take us to Italy, Turkey, and Egypt. We'll know then, mother, whether our time will need to be extended."

Mrs. Thornton said, "Don't stay away too long, John. I might run off with Higgins."

***  
The time on rough seas as they made their way from Liverpool to Lisbon was distressing. There were only two other passengers, young Jews who shared a bunked room and would not speak to Margaret unless her husband was with her. At dinner in the evenings, though no one ate much with the sea roiling, they would all of them talk trade with each other and with the captain. Through Samuel and Benjamin, John was introduced to traders in Lisbon, Tangier, Granada, Cadiz and Barcelona. They even ascertained that two of their countrymen, Jacob and Daniel who were well known to them, would be on their next ship to Malta, Heraklion, Istanbul, and Cyprus. 

Meeting with these men was truly a blessing from God. While Margaret nearly itched to tell them of the blessings which would come from baptism and accepting Christ, she also understood these men were honest, true of faith, and excellent businessmen.

The highlight of Cadiz for Margaret was getting to spend time with Frederick and his beautiful Spanish wife. She was now an aunt and her heart broke, just a little, to hold her tiny niece and play with her nephew who spoke not one word of her language. Frederick's wife, Dolores, noticed her melancholy and took her aside.

"Drink every evening to make strong children," she said as she handed Margaret a large pouch of dried herbs. With limited vocabulary and a great deal of mime, they established how much herb, how much water, and how long it should steep. Isabella wrote out the names of the herbs in Spanish, French, and Italian, so that Margaret could find them in the markets when she ran out. She also gave her a different tea for John to drink with all the same instructions.

The region around Barcelona proved to be a major source of cotton, but the farmers had no intention of exporting their raw material to England. Their mill owners recognized expertise and John was invited to their mills while Margaret was invited by their ladies to luncheons and teas.

When at last, they made their way back onto a ship a week later than originally expected, they sat and discussed what John had learned about the Spanish cotton industry and drafted letters to Higgins, Mrs. Thornton, and Mr. Lennox with instructions to buy property near the mill, questions about how to hire hands for dyeing and train them for block printing, and where they could find good chemists to develop new colors for them.

The journey from Barcelona to Valletta was brief. They had five days while the ship unloaded and reloaded before they would set off for Istanbul with a possible stop in Heraklion if the hold wasn't full.

Here it was that the magic of travel and the companionship of her husband inflamed Margaret's passion. They walked through much of the town together examining the various markets and ate fish and vegetables prepared in ways new to them both. At night, sipping tisanes before retiring, they had leisure to kiss and explore each other's bodies as had not truly been possible since early in their marriage.

Margaret thought briefly of Dolores on the first night of their visit, her boldness in kissing her husband when she thought they were unseen and her lack of embarrassment when she realized Margaret had observed them. It was she who reached for John, turning his face to her and framing it with her hands to pull him into a soft kiss. 

When it broke, they smiled at each other and John said, "If you're being so bold, wife, show me what you want of me."

Margaret blushed, but slipped her hand through his hair to kiss him again and began to unfasten his cravat. They had time and they took it, kissing and touching languorously on the sofa before John was so driven to passion that he lifted her bodily and carried her to the bedroom.

There they slid fingers over bare skin and followed those paths with their lips. He kept her inflamed even as he entered her, and she cried out, biting his shoulder to muffle her voice as she crashed and clasped against him.

John woke her the following morning by stroking the hair out of her face and said, "Perhaps we should have called this a honeymoon after all."

Margaret turned her head to kiss his palm. "Then let's enjoy our time as if it were one."

***  
Constantinople was the first major success of their trip. Several areas of Turkey grew cotton, but couldn't compete with what was coming out of the Americas. John agreed that Marlborough Mills would pay all loading fees, if the farmers got the cotton to the docks. There was haggling, but Daniel helped them find someone trustworthy to act as a local factor, and the price ended up making all involved quite happy.

The people they spoke to on Cyprus were ecstatic. They too had grown cotton until the American south had priced them out of the market. In their case, money was needed for seed and labor, but the lower cost of importing allowed Margaret and John to put the money forward, with a very tight contract overseen by yet another son of Israel and the local British consul as well. It was he who suggested they extend their trip and go to Egypt to arrange cotton imports from Sudan. 

The letters went out that evening letting Mrs. Thornton and Mister Lennox know of their change in plans and adding six weeks to their already extended travel schedule. 

For John especially, this travel was a revelation. Margaret had accompanied her cousin on a grand tour and at least knew something of Europe, though Turkey, Cyprus, and Egypt were new to her. But for John the softness of the air, the scents of spices and exotic flowers, the warmth against his skin were new surprises, tantalizing him.

The nights they spent behind the closed doors of their hotels continued to deepen their passion for each other. John would buy little vials of perfume in the markets just to sniff how they were transformed by Margaret's skin. They shared their plates of food as no one English ever did. Some of the women had talked to Margaret about olive oil and honey on her skin, teaching her how to make cold cream the ancient way and making her body soft and inviting to her husband.

At each place, they bought little tokens for friends and family to be shared with those they loved upon their return. 

***  
Upon arrival in Egypt they found the British consul and more friends of Jacob. The consul helped them get to Sudan. Once again they found farmers who had no market for their crop nearly crying with joy to accommodate them. Having settled the contracts and gotten assurances from the Consul as to their recourse in law should they be breached, they took a paddle boat up the Nile from Abu Simbel to Luxor and spent several days in Cairo exploring before catching a fast packet ship at Alexandria bound for Marseille. From there, it would be two days by train to Calais and a very long two day's journey from Calais to Dover to Milton which they chose to extend by a night in London.

The first shipment of Sudanese cotton would arrive not long after they returned. Next year, Marlborough Mills would see whether the whole gamble had paid off. With cheaper indigo and other dyes coming from Morocco and Cadiz as part of the same shipping loads, John and Margaret looked to break even on their investment in two years and turn a profit from it in three. 

***  
Once home in Milton, they headed back to the mill. Margaret just smiled when she saw John look longingly at the workmen's meal room and told him to go and make certain the factory was just where he left it. 

John grinned back at her before kissing her cheek, and said, "Tell mother I'll be there within the half hour."

"I shall, John. Go, I can see Higgins practically dancing with joy."

One of the servants took her coat and told her that Mrs. Thornton was taking tea with Miss Fanny and her husband in the parlor. Margaret thanked him and went up the stairs.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Margaret said. 

Mrs. Thornton looked up from her tea with one of the little quirks of her lips which would count as a grin in any lesser woman. "I'll ring for more hot water and another cup. I assume John's inspecting the mill?"

"He said to tell you he'd be here within the half hour, but…"

"I look for him at supper, then."

Fanny looked her over and said, "You should not have gone, neither of you should, but you most especially Margaret. You've come back far too sunburnt for fashion."

Margaret took her seat beside Mrs. Thornton and said, "I'm sure I have, but I would not trade the experience of seeing Constantinople or Abu Simbel for the fairest skin."

"And you've gotten fat!" The room went silent and finally Fanny demanded, "Well, hasn't she mother?"

"Fanny, I don't believe this is fit talk in front of your husband," Mrs. Thornton said. She turned to Margaret, "You came back quite quickly. We had a letter saying you weren't due back for another month. 

Margaret said, "Yes, we sent that from Luxor, but then we realized that as much as we loved seeing the world, we missed Milton. Once we got to Marseille, it was only four days by train."

"What a fast world we live in."

John came in and said, "It is, Mother." He kissed her cheek. "And yet the good fortune we had by having a long journey with few passengers on the outward voyage helped secure our hopes for the mill."

"It's good to have you home, John." Fanny said, before her mother could speak. "But I would think you'd have said something to Margaret before she ran to fat. I was just telling her how sunburnt and plump she's become."

"Fanny," Mrs. Thornton hissed. "I said it's not to be talked of in front of the men."

"Nonsense, Mother," John said, "I'm well aware my wife is carrying our child. It's why we chose to come back when we did."

"I hope it's a son," Fanny's husband said, "to inherit the mill."

Mrs. Thornton said, "I'm happy you'll be a father John. I think you have it in you to be a good one. And I know, Margaret, that any child of yours will be loved and taught well."

"Thank you, Mrs. Thornton."

"It's past time you called me, Hannah, I believe." 

Margaret saw John's eyebrows go up to his hairline as he sat behind his mother and said, "Thank you, Hannah," while trying not to giggle.

"You were quite wise to come back then," Fanny said, "That foreign food and all that sun can't be good for the child."

Mrs. Thornton caught a hot glance between her son and his wife. "It seems to have suited them both quite well," she said drily. 

After another half hour of tedious chitchat, Fanny and her husband left for home.

Mrs. Thornton held her son close for a moment, and then turned and gave Margaret a more sedate hug.

"I'll not say Fanny was right, but you'll have to find better clothes while you're carrying the child. You can't raise the hoop another inch."

"I know, Hannah."

"Do you want to rest before dinner?"

"You can if you like, Mother, but I'd like to hear about how the mill fared in our absence."

They all sat back down. "First of all, Henry Lennox seems to be a good man of affairs, but he knows very little about how a mill should be run."

"Did Henry try to interfere with Marlborough Mills?" Margaret asked.

"No, and, to be fair to him, I shouldn't have left the impression he had. It was more that he didn't understand why it might be better to make the outlay for a new machine than repair the old one in once instance and make repairs rather than get new in another. He mostly left the decisions to me with Higgins' guidance. He's a man of character, that Higgins."

"I agree, Mother."

"My main concern about Mister Lennox is that he wanted to form a syndicate. Something about your instructions and a canal. You hadn't written anything to me about it, and I couldn't help him. We each felt frustrated with the other at the end of his visit."

"No doubt," John said. "We saw him in London yesterday."

"And do you want to explain to me about a canal?"

"It's your inheritance," he said to Margaret.

"I thought we agreed it was a joint decision," Margaret retorted. "Hannah, while we were in Egypt we were invited by the British consul to a concert at the French chancellery. While we were there we were introduced to a Monsieur de Lesseps and after a thorough discussion, not just with him, but with other men of business, it seemed that a plan of his to put a canal through Egypt to the Red Sea which would then get ships to the Indian Ocean was sound. It's a risk, and very much a long term investment, but when it's done, India becomes a reasonable alternative to the Americas for raw cotton."

Hannah looked between them. "And you've chosen to invest in this?"

John said, "Once we determined that, even with the contracts to import cotton which we set up during our journey, we had funds enough to make the payroll and still have a repair fund for two years, yes, we did."

"And you're certain it's sound?"

Margaret said, "Nothing is ever completely certain in a venture this large, but the Pasha of Egypt has given Monsieur de Lesseps the concession, the investors all have sound reputations. It will take a dozen years, but the return we see would be vast and the benefit to the mill would be vast as well."

John added. "The problem was Mister de Lesseps didn't want anyone investing less than five percent. There are a few shares at one percent, but he wouldn't allow Margaret to buy one percent and me to buy one percent. He worried that someone could, by using all his distant cousins, ultimately end up with shares equal to or exceeding the Pasha's twenty percent. We could only afford three percent at most."

"So Henry drew up a smaller syndicate for us. We own three percent and the Lennox family owns two percent. Monsieur de Lesseps was fine with our purchasing five percent that way."

"I understand, then. I hope it comes up as everything it promises. It will be good for Milton as well as Marlborough Mills to have more sources."

The maid let them know dinner was served. 

As they walked to the table, Mrs. Thornton said, "You're carrying high. It will be a boy. Mark my words."

"I always do, Hannah."

John smiled at them both. "Do you think cook will be offended that we brought back spices?"

His mother looked at him. "Just don't tell Fanny."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I haven't bored you with too many business details. As I did my research, I found out the timings of Suez and the Civil War and, well, it just fascinated me.


End file.
